


Wild and beautiful

by Waldfee



Category: Football RPF
Genre: Attempt at Humor, Awkward Conversations, Best Friends, Bi-Curiosity, Borussia Dortmund, Bromance to Romance, FC Schalke 04, Friendship/Love, Gay Sex, German National Team, Hömmels, Inappropriate Behavior, Light Angst, M/M, Rumors
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-03
Updated: 2017-05-06
Packaged: 2018-09-21 19:45:29
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,902
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9563681
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Waldfee/pseuds/Waldfee
Summary: Mats wants to try something out. Benni is not amused...





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * A translation of [Wild und schön](https://archiveofourown.org/works/9453251) by [Waldfee](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Waldfee/pseuds/Waldfee). 



> This is the translation of my German story "Wild und schön". Being lazy, I used the Google translator and corrected the most obvious faults. I'm sure, there are still some mistakes left, so I would be grateful if you would either ignore them or point them out to me. Thank you! :-)

"Hmm, Benni..." Mats crossed his arms behind his with dark, curly hair covered head, then stretched his back on the immense double bed to relax the muscles after the strenuous workout. The window of the hotel room where they both were accommodated during the preparations for the upcoming European Championship stood half-open and let the mild night-wind in, which provided for cooling after the excessive heat of the day. The curtains moved quietly in the weak draft, regardless of the two footballers, unnoticed also the full moon above the comfortable hotel in France.

Benni, who was right beside him, looked up from his smart phone and cast a distracted look at his team mate. "Yeah, what's up?"

Mats laughed briefly. "What do you actually say about the rumors that are circulating about us?"

Benni groaned in a mildly irritated way, this time without losing sight of his cell phone. "What am I to say? This is an old hat. Some fans are just freaky and desperately looking for the first gay couple in soccer. Fortunately, we are not the only ones who are concerned. Why, does that bother you at once?"

Mats put his head to one side and looked at Benni thoughtfully. "No, I'm actually laughing about it. That is, most of the time I do. It's crazy. The reporters never leave me alone, constantly they are searching for a theme where I don’t fit into the scheme of the ideal football player. But I do not mean that at all. "

"But?" Benni finally put his smart phone aside and grabbed the remote.

"Did you ever do that?" Mats asked casually.

"What do you mean?" Benni looked slightly irritated.

"Well, have you ever been with a man? In this kind of way? "  
"Huh? Are you being serious now?" Benni froze incredulously. The present darkness in their hotel room prevented him from recognizing and interpreting Mats' facial expression. Then he started to think again. "No, I did not. But you know me, why do you ask? "

"Just so." Mats had his face propped up on his elbow and stared thoughtfully into the void.

"Sure, just like that! Mats, I do not think so now. If you were gay, you would not have been able to hide it from me for so many years. So, please tell me at last what you have in mind!"

Mats laughed dryly and waved his right hand through the air as if he was trying to scare away an annoying thought. "Oh..." A short pause followed, then he continued laboriously: "You know. Cathy is still in Munich and we are constantly together with the others. Constantly naked bodies around us, but no sex, nope, never. I just wanna have sex, Benni."

His bed neighbor bargained, for he knew this problem too. "Hang on, Mats. Or lock yourself in the bathroom and do something about it. There are only two more weeks left, and if we are unlucky, we are sooner skipping out of the tournament."

Mats groaned resignedly and let his head sink back onto his pillow. "This is so boring. I prefer action!"

Benni shook his head in agitated indignation. "You're married, Mats. What more do you want to hear from me?"

Mats grinned smugly and threw a long look at Benni's athletic body. "That we could try it out together, at least a little bit. Actually, there is not so much to it. Come on, Benni."

"What?" Benni dropped the remote, which landed safely on the soft duvet. "Mats, you're nuts. No, I do not believe that you really mean that. Besides, I'm not a guinea pig for your little experiments."

"Oh, Benni, whom else am I to ask?"

"How should I know that? Mats, please be reasonable. You would never come up with such ideas, if the hormone jam would not put such nonsense into your head."

Mats was not impressed by Benni's reflections, but gave a slightly begging, ingratiating look. Benni held the gaze of those intense brown eyes, framed with long eyelashes and thick eyebrows. Sure, Mats was beautiful. But Lisa was beautiful, too. And he was not so desperate as to accept absurd offers from Mats, one of his closest friends, just in order to get some ill chosen gratification.

But of course Mats did not give up so quickly. "I do not want to ask anyone else. If I am to do this, then with you only..."

Benni puffed out some of the air through his nose and cleared his throat. "Mats. I still do not believe it, but slowly it is no longer funny. You have to accept that you will not get sex here and today. Call Cathy and lament your sorrows to her, or if you really have to, go to a brothel somewhere. But please leave me alone with this.”

Mats' face changed again. For a second only the pain of rejection was to be read in his eyes, then his expression darkened. He got up, drove his feet into the waiting flip-flops to go to the door.

Benni looked alarmed at Mats' back and also stood up to stop his longtime friend from being stupid. "Where are you going now?"

Mats ran a hand tiredly over his face. "Get out, get some fresh air. I have to get my head clear. You're probably right, it was a stupid idea, and I should have kept my big mouth shut."

"Hey..." Benni reassured Mats with running his hand soothingly over his broad back, then put both hands briefly to Mats’ neck to massage it for a few seconds. "It's not that bad. Now go, get some fresh air into your system and then come back, when you are better again. Or shall I come with you? "

Mats shook his head, secretly feeling moved by Benni's concern for him. "No, that's not necessary. I just go for a stroll, I'll be right back. Do not feel disturbed."

"Ok, then." Benni broke away from Mats, made himself comfortable on his bed again and grabbed the remote while Mats reached for his room card, then left the room quietly.

Benni shook his head again in an amused fashion. So he did not know Mats at all, and he still could not quite guess what his friend had been riding there. With another guy Benni might have made attempts to escape now, trying to get into the room with another colleague. But not so with Mats. No, he trusted him blindly, for many years yet, he did not have to be afraid.

Of course Benni knew about the many rumors among their professional surroundings and suspected that some of their fellow players actually secretly experimented, whether out of youthful ignorance, curiosity or other motives. But no matter how that could be – this didn’t work out for him, not even with Mats. After all, they were both married.

Benni continued to muse as he waited impatiently for Mats' return. When he glanced at the clock again, it fell from his eyes like scales. Yes, they were both married. He had never been a great adventurer and had little experience except sex with Lisa. Had rarely ever thought about the fact that with his celebrity, from a sexual point of view, theoretically many possibilities were open to him. But what did he care for any of the women who were solely looking for the money in him? This was perhaps going to be his only, almost risk less opportunity...

 

When Mats finally came back, he seemed calm and balanced, just like almost always. The little nightly walk in the hotel area seemed to have done him good. In contrast to Benni, who felt now a great inner restlessness.

Then Benni could not stand it any longer and asked in a low voice, when the Dortmunder had finally finished brushing his teeth and had gone back to bed. "Mats? You really meant it, do you? Why? And why me, especially?"

Mats snuffled and turned to have a look at his friend. "Benni. You know I like you. And I am craving. I want to feel hot, tender skin on mine, and if it were yours, then I could very well live with it. You have a beautiful body and I trust you explicitly. I imagine this to be pleasurably when you trust somebody. But we do not have to try something that you do not want. So let us forget about it and go to sleep, Benni."

Mats' big hand reached over and laid down on Benni's shoulder for a moment, before he moved away again.

But Benni could not quite drop the subject, instead, with a stagnant voice, said: "Thank you for your honesty. Let me think about it, Mats. By the way, you are right in one way. You're the only one I could ever trust so far."

Mats smiled gently at him; Benni saw the faint lightning of Mats' white teeth. For a moment they both fell silent, then Benni stretched out his arm and petted the Dortmunder’s black hair. After that, their hands met and clasped one another for a brief handshake before they separated again.

"Good night, Mats, sleep well."

"Yes, you too, Benni."

For a moment, their pairs of eyes met, then everyone turned to the other side to finally go to sleep after the long day. A short time later, in the lost dreams of both football players, all doubts and ambitions of amorous adventures were forgotten.


	2. Chapter 2

The mood between them was a little tense upon the next day, their usual jokes and conversations containing a strange undertone, which they both probably could not decipher. Benni occasionally threw inquiring, curious, but also doubtful looks at Mats, while the latter tried to read desperately in the eyes of his counterpart. What was Benni willing to do with him? What would he dare for him?

Mats tried not to interpret too much into these considerations. He did not perceive their friendship in danger, too, seeing as Benni also on this day completed the training by his side, as always, without visibly distancing himself from him. Their colleagues also seemed to have no idea of the effects of their nightly conversation, which calmed Mats considerably.

After all, they had no time to ponder - the exercises on the pitch required the highest concentration, perfect timing, endurance, physical and mental readiness; besides, they had a title to defend. The stereotype of the muscular, but mentally not very prominent footballer could not have been fulfilled even by a single member of the national team, since the fast game required immediate thinking and in many situations also a high mental mobility.

Almost as preprogrammed, he and Benni were some of the last kickers to go to the showers. Mats had by no means provoked this circumstance intentionally, but had only collected the balls after training, while Benni had already gone into the cabin. But apparently his friend had then taken his extra time with changing. And suddenly, too, Thomas Müller and Manuel Neuer left the shower room, which left him alone with Benni.

Mats took a quick look to the side as he washed his hair. Benni stood bent down beside him under the warm water stream, about half a meter away, and was washing the soap from his feet. His well-developed, evenly grown body shone from the liquid, the drops of water rolled off slightly from his bright, but not too pale skin. Mats looked down. Yes, no doubt, Benni was indeed beautiful.

Benni straightened again when he was finished with his feet, then met Mats’ gaze without hesitation. For a moment, perhaps a bit too long, they looked earnestly at each other, as if to fathom the soul of the other. Mats really wanted to know what Benni was thinking now. And yet he was denied to know the thoughts of the other, whom he knew as well as hardly anyone else. Then finally, the seriousness disappeared from Benni's eyes and gave room to a light smirk.

"While we're at it, you can wash my back for a change. Then we'll see."

"Oh, is that so?" Mats answered in an amused fashion and took the bottle with shower gel, which Benni handed him, opened the cap and gave a small blob of the contents into his palm. He set the bottle aside on one of the shower trays and watched intently as Benni turned his back to him. Then, with a feeling of deep tension and slight, restrained anticipation, he put his hands on Benni's broad shoulders to gently massage the shower gel into his skin.

Benni rolled back his head and sighed with relish as Mats spread more of the shower gel onto his skin and then across the entire back. Farther down, Mats did not dare, even though he knew that his chances of getting even closer to his longtime friend and intermittent rival were not bad at all.

He looked briefly at his butt and was very tempted to involve him in his hygienic measures, but in the end he let it be, just in case. After all, one of their team-mates or even their coach could at any time interrupt their not so innocent togetherness. Mats did not want to imagine Jogi’s face, should he get wind of it. Jogi Löw was very friendly with his players, and yet you did not want to be caught kissing by your uncle or a distant relative.

After a short time, Benni turned his head halfway to look at him. A promising gleam from his eyes met Mats, and then his head moved back again. Suddenly, Benni leaned back against his body, half leaning against him so that he could only feel his upper body pressed against his chest, and Mats instinctively raised his arms slightly to cover Benni. His hands came to a halt just below Benni's firm waist. He drew the air in sharply. What an exciting game did Benni play with him now? 

Benni also raised his arms and pushed them back onto Mats' back, then spoke to him with a coquettish undertone in his manly, yet soft voice: "Do not panic, Mats. Were you not the one willing to dare?"

Mats cleared his throat. The unhoped-for closeness excited him too much to be able to speak in a normal voice. "Very gladly, in principle. But here we are not in a private, locked room."

"Soso, I have not even noticed. I just wanted to try out how this feels. You have very pleasant hands." Benni stroked Mats' back slightly with his fingertips.

"Thank you, Benni," Mats replied dryly. "Then maybe we can break this off now and postpone it for later?"

Benni smirked and turned his head back to him, still in Mats' arms. Mats again felt those joky fingertips that were lightly moving over his sides, trying to tickle him. He intently stared at Benni's strong profile and tried to keep up with the current happenings, at the very least, before the moment was lost forever. A moment filled with tempting, still hesitant, but clear eroticism in the shower room of the national team; that would never ever come back.

"Maybe I'm not done with trying out yet," Benni teased him.

"Where does your sudden change of mind come from?" Mats replied. What more surprises were waiting there for him, kept firmly hidden under Benni’s friendly and quiet well-behaved demeanour?

Benni smiled enigmatically. "Maybe today I'm just in the right mood for it? I can not tell you exactly, I'm afraid."

Mats could hardly believe that Benni really wanted to do this with him. But of course he took what he could get from the other. After all, this was one of his best friends, and somewhere, Mats knew, they also loved each other without ever having to say it out loud. They had known each other for so many years that it was a simple matter of course. Who wanted to draw a clear line between friendship and love at all? Their former line between Yellowblack and Royalblue at the European Championship 2009, in which they had shared a room, had been blurred a very long time ago, too.

"Yes?" He asked.

"This still," Benni replied to his unspoken question and brought his head very close to Mats' face. Then Benni’s lips lowered themselves infinitely slowly down onto his own. The subsequent, highly sensuous contact electrified Mats. Benni’s warm body against his, so close, so breathtaking, his lips so soft - Mats groaned into the kiss and pulled Benni tightly into his arms. It was great! It was unbelievable to feel this, an experiment, yes, but not without emotion, but in the rising wings of loving friendship and persistent mental closeness and connectedness. What had they not experienced together? Had gained world championship, side by side, had overcome injuries, and had supported each other with complete trusting care. Once, only once, they did fight really angry, as captain of their respective team, just to say sorry and get together again on the next day. Even when they were on holiday, they'd come together, for example, when Cathy had been to "Let's Dance". A life without Benni? Unimaginable and impossible.

Mats enjoyed Benni's soft lips for a moment, pulled gently at his lower lip and then slowly withdrew his head. This was not the place for such intimacies. Benni met his gaze with a mild expression, took half a step back, and then looked down at Mats’ muscular form. Mats did the same and suppressed a smile. The kiss had left their mark on both of them. Not that he had never before seen one of his colleagues with an erection under the common showers, but on Benni this was something new to him. He looked good, decided Mats, and reached for his own shower gel.

"Come, Benni, let’s go for lunch."

The man who was addressed nodded, smiling, also reached for his shower-utensils and turned to go. Mats' eyes remained fixed on Benni's firm back as he left the room in front of him. Tonight would still take it’s toll on him, so Mats wanted to be strengthened for all sorts of activities to come and yearned to take a rich meal. All the pleasures of the body have been associated with each other since the time of human thought, after all.


	3. Chapter 3

The air crackled between them when, a little time later, they entered the elevator together to go to their shared hotel room. Mats had almost pulled his friend close to his own body just there to kiss him passionately, but had fought hard to restrain himself from doing so. An eclat in the semi-public would not help him to get to enjoy some more action in a horizontal position this evening, after all.

As soon as the door of the large suite finally closed behind them, he wanted to pull Benni into his arms, but instead he was pushed against the door frame, while Benni stepped closer to him, his arms encircling his hips, and examined him with an intense, slightly mocking, but also distinctly lustful look.  
The playful duel of their pairs of eyes made Mats’ desire heat up once more in him, also reminded him again of who and how Benni was. The Schalker, who had remained at the club of his choice even after so many years, although he could have gone to many clubs, hid behind his friendly face not only a cheerful, open, tolerable nature, great seriousness and loyalty, but also an unimagined intensity of feelings and the absolute doubtlessness in his decisions, including the everlasting fighting spirit that was associated with it. A man, a captain, a friend without match. A striking mixture that Mats could not resist, and not even wanted to.

Mats also noted that his excitement suddenly increased again while Benni was standing so close to him, so that he could feel his body’s warmth through the thin fabric of his shirt. They were standing in front of each other, still waiting, almost as if they were lurking what was about to happen and who would be the first to make a specific movement to allow the interlude, which had already begun in the shower room to be followed now by more unrestrained activities.

It was Benni. Benni looked down at him briefly, probably registering the bump in Mats' training shorts and stepped even closer to him, pushing his knee forward to bring it up between Mats' legs. Benni's thigh gently rubbed against Mats' hip, barely noticeable at the beginning, and then a little tighter, while his arms went down at the same time, coming to rest gently on Mats' hip bones.

Now the Dortmunder could no longer stand still. He jumped forward, grabbed Benni’s buttocks with a firm grip and kissed his teammate eagerly. Soft lips, beard stubble, and hot breath, mingling, two tongues that sought each other and gave what they had to give to the other. The kiss quickly grew wilder, intoxicating; all doubts had been forgotten a long time ago. No more questions asked, no superfluous words - what was there to discuss if you let yourself be moved and touched by desire alone? Mats let his fingers slip into Benni's trousers, looking for naked skin and finally pushing his shorts and underpants down. Both garments fell to the ground and landed around Benni's ankles.

The latter looked quite disbelieving when he suddenly felt Mats' kneading hands on his naked bottom, then grinned obliquely and urged Mats to the immense double bed on which they had gone to sleep last night in a much more innocent manner. Mats could soon feel Benni pulling his shirt up and over his head, then he already fell onto the soft mattress, soon followed by Benni, who landed on his body unasked, kicked of his own shorts first, then went for Mats' pants. As soon as he had removed them, Benni grabbed the garment of his underwear and pulled them over his hips in nearly the same way, afterwards stopped to study the now naked Mats with a challenging look.

The dark-haired man felt even more heated up when he noticed how Benni's eyes were lurking on his intimate area. He would never have suspected that the Schalker captain could really be so turned on by his male body alone, naked and stiff. What was it called? A thousand touches...

But Benni’s erection was obviously hard like his own, pointing out to the rooms’ ceiling in a clear angle. Mats sprawled himself lustfully on the large double bed, pushed his abdomen closer to Benni to provoke things further. His penis twitched slightly, and when his friend did not respond, but only stared, Mats took matters in his own hand and began to stroke himself slowly.

At this, Benni, who was sitting next to him on the edge of the cushions, snapped out of his silent reflections at last. "Hey, let me do that ..." he said with a hoarse, excited voice, stretched out his arm and pushed Mats' fingers aside to take part of the action.

Mats groaned as he felt Benni's warm hand around his penis. Timid fingers stroked his member carefully at first, then very curiously, and glided over his shaft, examined his glans, distributed a drop of the precome over the soft skin, and then began to pump him slowly and rhythmically. All this was so hot, so unexpectedly good! How good it was indeed that it was Benni with whom he shared this! Their playful rivalry, the struggle of their clubs for the supremacy in North Rhine-Westphalia, their many jokes about Schwarzgelb and Königsblau also aroused the current mood further, so all of this was not just about making love, but also about the charm of daring, the challenge also there on this level.

Mats sighed with pleasure as Benni once again spoiled his sensitive glans more intensely, then pulled him closer to himself, so that he could reciprocate the caresses. He had to groan loudly as he saw Benni’s large, swollen penis in full splendor; that what otherwise was only Lisa’s privilege to touch was now destined for him. To once have undreamt of happiness in life, only once, one whole night to enjoy, once being able to forget everything else. So he transformed the initial idea into action and enfolded Benni’s erection in a similar way, caressed and spoiled it as if it was going to be the last time. What was indeed in the realm of possibilities...

And again their lips found and consumed each other, desiring the other’s naked soul as well, but also searching for the unforeseen passion of this moment, for the pleasure to be gained by the reciprocated pampering, and for the grand and genuine nature of their friendship. If this was to be their most precious and intimate encounter, more joyful than the thrilling World Cup finals in 2014, when they had laid in each others arms with tears of joy and celebrated half the night long, when, after long struggles, their biggest and most daring dream had came true, in short, if this moment was the one in which Benni came as close to him as never before - he wanted to embrace it with all the fervor of his being, wanted to encompass it, hold it and keep it in his arms as long as possible. A new definition of fidelity had to be made which contradicted everything that morality suggested: loyalty to the friend, not to Cathy; loyalty, celebration and appreciation of their union, which counted almost as much as a conventional love affair.

One of his hands went up to Benni's face, cherished it, then drove back down to his nipples, caressed these, teased Benni’s sides, his navel, then gently massaged his testicles. Mats felt he was close to orgasm, and his opponent also panted in a way that his climax could not be overly far away. Once again he glanced at Benni's beautiful member in his hand, looked at his strong thighs. Once again he felt this thumb glide over his glans, then all of his dams broke loose and he poured himself over Benni's well-formed hand, which had not yet withdrawn itself, but continued to accompany him through his ecstasy. Which turned to get even more intense as Mats saw his friend's eyes flashing with lust, his face twisting slightly, all the while staring at Mats' twitching penis. Then Benni also reacted and came with a gentle moan, holding him in his arms, the otherwise friendly expression now full of wild passion. He kissed Mats hard, searching and desiring, searching for the opponent and the friend, who was so much like himself that it mocked every description.

Afterwards Benni broke down onto him and Mats closed his arms lovingly around the other defender to give them a breather.


	4. Chapter 4

A brief moment of silence followed, both of them struggling for new breath. Suddenly, Mats laughed in an amused fashion, pushing Benni away only slightly. "What happened to you? I thought I'd have to persuade you, and then you're going on so strong here. Not that I want to complain about that. It was hot, Benni."

He raised his head in astonishment as Benni buried his head against Mats' chest with a slight moan and did not answer for the time being, but sought even closer contact to his skin. "Hey, what's up? Are you not well?"

Being slightly worried, he put a hesitant hand on Benni's shoulder. "Did I hurt you? Was I too crude?"

"No," muttered Benni without lifting his head from his comfortable position. "No, it’s not that. I just needed this more than I thought so before. Perhaps I must thank you."

"What? What for?" Now Mats did not understand.

But then the Schalker looked up again, turned to lay onto his back and gazed thoughtfully at the ceiling above them. "I often get into doubt, Mats. Sometimes I do not know if all of this is still worthwhile to continue fighting. For Schalke, for the club. You know, I love Schalke. But the pressure, the media, the constant danger of hurting themselves more seriously. We still have a few years ahead of us until the end of our careers. Constantly these stupid questions, the speculations, which one of us footballers withdrew taxes. Since I have been a captain, I have had several interviews every week; even when I sit with Lisa in the restaurant, I get curious looks. I just want some peace and quiet."

Mats nodded thoughtfully, trying to comprehend what the other had said as quickly as possible. Some strange topic so directly after having sex, but if this was an issue that Benni affected, what had perhaps driven him into their joint activities, then he had to accept and cope with it as well.

What Benni had addressed, was, in effect, the price they all had to pay, all of them who had their childhood dreams of playing football as a professional come true. And some of them paid an even higher price - those who really had something to hide, or those who did not follow the path of even more money, but had remained loyal to their club, because their character destined them to do so. Just like Benni did.

He understood all of this, but now he had to cheer his friend up. "Yes I know. It’s not ideal and sometimes I detest these greasy reporters as well. But which alternatives should there be? In other professions, you have other problems."

"That’s correct. I've been thinking about it for weeks, months, and I’ve got headache so often that I barely see some light behind the tunnel anymore. So this, now, was real help." To illustrate, he clapped Mats lightly on his posterior and patted it some more. "Just some dirty sex, without complications or special requirements."

Mats grinned wantonly. "Certainly, you hottie." 

They both laughed out loudly, then Benni suddenly became serious again. "Man, Mats. This is exactly what the press is always after. There are so many fan sites on the Internet that I get dizzy from it when I dare to take a look. Constantly these photos, Mats, not just one or two, but dozens of any official appointment. Welcome to Big Brother!"

Benni then clasped his hands in front of his face and groaned agonized. "And now I also have cheated on Lisa. Oh my God, Mats... What have we done?"

Mats was silent and stroked soothingly over Benni's bare shoulder. He, too, was very well aware of the fact that he had deceived his wife Cathy. He had foreseen it, of course, had felt a nagging doubt in the back of his head, but had pushed it from his mind, as he had only half expected to get his friend into bed. And then everything had gone too fast to really weigh up the pros and cons of the game.  
But now there was only one thing left to do, which was to limit the damage done, to one hundred percent, and not to leave Benni alone with his questions and doubts. Heaven, he had only thought of his lust, while his friend was confronted with serious existential problems.

Tenderly, he continued to stroke Benni's back and whispered into his ear: "Yes, I know, Benni. I'm all sorry, I was a tail-driven idiot. Please promise me that we’re good."

Benni blinked with tired eyes behind his fingers. "Oh, Mats, of course, what do you think? I was just as crazy as you. I also did not leave you much of a choice in the end."

Mats chuckled wistfully. "It was still great, Benni. I do not know yet what my conscience will tell me after all. But I know that I can’t regret having sex with you. I’d rather make a mistake now and then, rather than feeling the repentance after decades to never have tried it. You've also never had any woman other than Lisa - what do you think what crazy stuff our colleagues have already done?" 

He seriously looked at his colleague, deep into those soft brown eyes, and continued: "How do you think Lisa would react? If she knew?"

Benni laughed dryly, so dry indeed that it was more like a chopped cough. "She would explode and I probably wouldn’t have a chance to see her for weeks. But if it had been with a woman, it would be all over. Even if it sounds stupid, maybe it was better this way than to fuck with some stranger."

Mats growled in agreement. "We've jerked off together. No more, but not less."

"Yes, there are many worse things. But we may never tell anybody about this, Mats. This must remain our secret forever."

Now it was up to Mats to let a muted laugh hear. "Of course. So now it is true what the fans say. Hömmels is inseparable, and so on. The Big Brother feeling will remain, Benni, but it will also fade with time. The World Cup in Russia still, and then we can say: it is enough, we can stop, as Basti and Poldi do now. But will you endure it until then? You know I'm always there for you. If you’ll have doubts again, if you are worried. Always."

His team mate looked at him briefly, and then gratefully placed his head on Mats' shoulder. "I know, Mats. Thank you. I’m also there for you, day and night. Even if we won’t see each other so often in the future. I will miss you…"

Mats immediately knew that Benni was referring to his decision to return to his home in Munich. It hadn’t been an easy decision, and sometimes it hurt him now already, when the actual removal was still a few months away.

He pulled Benni closer into his arms. "I’ll miss you as well, Benni. But we will come to visit, and maybe we can go on holidays together again. All our life lies in front of us. At some point the pressure will subside and then we will be free..."

Benni considered the last thought longingly. "Freedom... We will never be completely free, Mats. The press would continue to follow us for years to come, even after our careers."

"But as soon as they realize that we are actually pretty boring, they will leave us alone and forget our faces. New, younger professionals will take in our place, which they can then harass. "

Thereupon Benni breathed amused and raised his hand to gently caress Mats’ face. The latter closed his eyes trustingly. "You and being boring? And who should ever forget your face, Mats? You, the most beautiful player of the Bundesliga."

Mats opened his eyes again and gave Benni a flirting look. "Thank you, Benni. I like you also. Who knows, in another life..."

"... Maybe both of us would be together," Benni completed thoughtfully, and then yawned. "I think we should sleep at last."

"You're right," Mats replied, leaning on his longtime friend, still slightly sweaty, but he did not care. Benni put an arm around Mats' waist and closed his eyes. Shortly before he fell asleep, he heard Mats' softly murmured words: "I love you, Benni."

"Hmm," he grumbled contentedly against Mats' neck, "I love you, too."


End file.
